The Courseys

Joe Coursey married Martha Henderson and they had 3 Daughters; Shirley, Nellie and Mary. They lived in Port Gamble in the mill housing when growing up. Martha and Joe divorced and at some point. Later, Joe returned to the Coursey lane property.

Coursey Lane was named after Joe William Ogle Coursey who bought the property with Charles and Rose Coursey in 1928. Joe was not the biological child of Charles but took his name as a young man after parting ways with his own father Frank Ogle. Together they bought twenty acres for $210. Pieces were sold off over the years to Frank Woodruff and others.

Joe’s daughter Nell moved onto the property in early 1980’s to take care of Joe. She worked as a cook at the Hospital in Port Townsend for 25 years before retiring.

Nell had 2 daughters, Janet and Linda. Janet inherited the 3 remaining acres and lived there from 1987 until the present.

The Courseys raised hogs, chickens and goats and Charles made home-brew. Joe worked at the mill. He retired as night watchman at the mill where he made his rounds with a large grey curly haired dog named Bingo. Bingo enjoyed dog food sandwiches at meal break with horehound candy for dessert.

The buildings on the property were built from tongue and groove fir mill ends purchased for $5 per truckload. There were a few 12x16 cabins that were built by other mill workers and when they left the cabins were later rented. The cabins were a simple rectangular design the boards running horizontally with an outside layer, tarpaper or newspaper for insulation and another inside wall built the same way.The floors were made of the same material. Knob and tube wiring provided electricity. A 12 foot deep, hand dug will provided water to the property until a 180 foot deep well was installed possibly in the 1980’s.

Joe had the mind, though not the education, of an engineer and was handy at building and repairing or making things from junk. He built a tractor out of an old car from the 1920’s and used it on the property. By the time I saw it in the 1980’s it was burning more oil than gas but still running. He made a drill press from car pistons and spare parts. Also, a homemade table saw and band saw that ran on belts discarded from the mill. He fixed all the kids bikes in the neighborhood and kept lawn mowers running even until he was almost blind from cataracts. He was reclusive but always glad for company of the neighborhood children liked to watch tv with him.